Poker pals raising money for baby's life-saving surgery

Pakistani baby needs heart surgery

What do a budding writer, a group of online poker buddies and a Pakistani infant have in common? For Christine Muratore of Bridgewater, they are behind a life-saving quest to deliver a miracle in 2013.

A friendship formed over a virtual poker table on Facebook triggered her plan to bring a 6-month-old Pakistani baby to Boston for lifesaving heart surgery, the Enterprise reported.

Christine Muratore, 65, started playing Zynga Poker for virtual chips a year ago and soon entered into a lively email exchange with Saleem Khattak, 43, of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Now, Muratore and her husband, Michael, are hoping individual donors, companies and charitable groups will chip in to raise nearly $209,000 to save Khattak’s son, Zebaan.

“After I started playing free poker online, I began writing a ‘how-to for dummies,’” said Muratore, “but soon I realized these were real people with fascinating stories and began my novel, ‘How 6 Poker Players Changed My Life,’” which is still in progress, said Muratore.

“Six months after we were playing daily, a player named Saleem and his wife had their son, Zebaan,” said Muratore, who later learned the infant had a missing spleen and his heart was on the wrong side of his body.

Born on May 15, 2012, Zebaan also had two holes between the upper and lower chambers of his heart – called a complete atrioventricular septal defect – and Pakistani doctors predicted the infant would not survive more than eight months without surgery. They were reluctant to perform the complex operations, and specialists in India also declined to operate.

Muratore had a personal motivation for embarking on the fundraiser.

“I suppose it is because it is heart-breaking to lose a child … My husband and I lost a baby girl, and we know you never completely recover,” she said.

Muratore consulted with specialists in Pakistan and India, retrieved the child’s records, and put his parents in touch with pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Ditaram Emani at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Doctors in India will perform an interim shunt procedure to heighten blood flow through Zebaan’s heart, and Emani agreed to perform the surgery in Boston at a discount.

Though surgeons and the hospital have agreed to discount their services, Zebaan’s family cannot afford the remaining $208,956 which must be paid upfront for the surgery and hospital stay. The family is borrowing from family and friends to cover airfare and living expenses while in Boston.

Muratore has served as mediator between the hospital and the Khattak family, and collected medical reports, hospital confirmation of Zebaan as a patient, and a list of 30 charities whom Khattak has contacted for assistance.

There is also a “Save Baby Zebaans Heart” Facebook page, and an account for donations at their local branch of Citizens Bank. Checks made out to “Save Baby Zebaan’s Heart” can be sent to 160 Auburn St., Bridgewater, MA, 02324.

If Zebaan dies before the heart surgery can be performed, all funds raised will be donated to a charitable foundation for children’s heart surgery, she said.

“Whatever the outcome I want this young family to know people care,” said Muratore. “They are not alone.”

Muratore may be reached at cqweave@aol.com or 508-697-2714.

Childrens Hospital Boston international patient representative Jessica Grohowski may be contacted at jessica.grohowski@childrens.harvard.edu or at 617-355-2228.